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Simple Maths Problem....fao Barry!

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ToraToraTora | 12:29 Wed 24th Jul 2024 | ChatterBank
6 Answers

Barry's post below demonstrates how the correct approach is vital even with simple arithmetic, so here's another classic....

The missing pound!

//Three friends are splitting the bill after a meal out at a restaurant. The
waiter says the bill is £30, so the guests split it evenly and pay £10 each.

As he’s walking away the waiter realises that he’s overcharged the group
and the bill should only be £25.

In order rectify this, he takes the £5 that is owed to the guests in order
to bring the bill down to £25. On the way back to the table, he realises
that he cannot divide £5 equally between three people.

As the customers are still unaware of the actual total of the revised bill,
the waiter decides to just give each of the three friends £1 each and then
keep the leftover £2 as a tip for himself.

Basically, each customer got £1 back: meaning they only paid £9 each;
bringing the total paid to £27. The waiter has the leftover £2.

The £27 the customers paid, + the £2 the waiter kept = £29 so, if the
diners originally handed over £30, what happened to the remaining £1?//

 

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Is this along the same principle of counting down from 10 on your left hand (you end at six) then counting up on the right and arriving at 11?

Question Author

Not really though it is about realising what the real sum is.

There is no missing £1. £25 paid + £2 the waiter kept + £3 returned = £30.  The customers really paid £27

The customers got a meal valued at 25 pounds + 3 pounds back = 28 pounds + 2 pounds tip = 30 pounds,originally given

They have paid 27 pounds for a meal worth 25 pounds and a 2 pound tip

Ah, the old ones are the best ones.

 

Not putting the amounts correctly into the sums can lead to confusion.

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Simple Maths Problem....fao Barry!

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